Exclusive: New track from ex-Throbbing Gristle's forthcoming Final Report

(photos by Paul Heartfield)

In 2006, industrial music pioneer Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle and Coil was so taken with Desertshore, a challenging 1970 album by Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico, that he set off on a project to "cover," and I use the term loosely, the entire album. It was a project that would quietly simmer in the background for several years as Sleazy continued to record and perform as part of the re-activated Throbbing Gristle with Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni-Tutti, and Genesis P-Orridge. In 2007, Throbbing Gristle performed versions of some of the Desertshore material live at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. It would be three more years though before Sleazy focused on Desertshore in earnest, preparing to record guest vocalists who would sing Nico's poetry on the reimagined songs. Simultaneously, Chris and Cosey, who Sleazy had recently toured with as the trio X-TG, prepared at their Norfolk, UK studio for a forthcoming visit from their friend who was then living in Bangkok. The plan upon Sleazy's arrival was to finally immerse themselves in the Desertshore production. Then, on November 25, 2010, just a month before his scheduled trip to see Chris and Cosey, Sleazy died in his sleep.

For the last two years, Chris and Cosey have sifted through Sleazy's sound files, recorded snippets, and notebooks in an effort to bring Desertshore to life even in the shadow of their friend's death. The album is now complete. On November 26, 2012, the day after the anniversary of Sleazy's death, Desertshore will be released on Industrial Records. Guest artists on the project include Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), Marc Almond, Blixa Bargeld, Sasha Grey and Gaspar Noé.

For more than three decades, Chris, Cosey, and Sleazy seized every opportunity they could find together to informally experiment and push the boundaries of their creative relationships with music and each other. To paraphrase Cosey, their life was their art and their art was their life. Indeed, the forthcoming Desertshore is accompanied by an entire additional album drawn from Chris, Cosey, and Sleazy's 2009/2010 trio sessions in Norfolk. I'm honored that our friends Chris and Cosey, who have been lifelong inspirations to me, provided us an exclusive pre-release remix of a song from the forthcoming companion album that is, indeed, "The Final Report."

Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni-Tutti: "Desertshore/The Final Report"

(This post is dedicated to the memory of Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson)

• [Xeni Jardin]

  FUCKKKKKKK YEAHHHHHHH

• [Crubellier]

  I can understand that Chris and Cosey might want to omit Genesis’ contribution – he was part of the TG lineup that recorded versions of the Desertshore tracks at the ICA in London back in 2007 – but I’m still startled at the extent to which he seems to have been written out of this project’s ‘official’ history.

  • [David Pescovitz]

    I’ve added the ICA bit. Thanks!

  • [FRED giannelli]

    Gen deserved it…

  • [John Doe]

    As a someone who had his only chance to see TG live robbed from him by Genesis just leaving the band for fun, I agree with that. TG have been a huge idols of mine ever since I first head Zyklon B Zombie, and seeing them meant everything for me – but, a day before the concert, he just disappears because he’s bored of playing..

• [Boundegar]

  Holy shit no volume control!  My subwoofer is bleeding!

  • [Jasmine Sailing]

     I enjoyed the bleeding ears. Distracts from the pain of losing Coil…

  • [OtherMichael]

     I never got the lack of volume controls on sound-cloud embeds. irritating.

• [Donovan Smith]

  COIL inspired rings!    http://persistence.dsdsonline.com/the-dreamer-is-still-asleep/

• [Abelard Lindsay]

  Oh god. That keyboard. Holy fuck. No.

• [Noddy Ninetythree]

  literally music to my ears.

  (i think Antony has earned the right to no longer be a “from” artist. She’s either Antony or Antony Hegarty)

• [Drabula]

  I managed to catch TG in London (2 years ago? or whenever their last tour was). Soul-shattering good. Thanks for this.